CFZ Jerry knows how to run a fun camp for fans, the Rams don't

Hennessy_King

Hennessy_King

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muck4doo said:
Took a trip to UC Irvine to attend the Rams camp today, and will never go to a Rams camp again. Practice for the Rams starts at 12:30 local time and runs until 3:00 during what is the hottest part of the day in California, vs. Cowboys practices starting at 10 or 11 in the cooler Oxnard climate. That's just the start of it though.

Both times I've been to camp in Oxnard so far, I've been able to find free street parking about a 10 minute walk from the gates. UC Irvine you are not going to find any such thing, and pay $18 for a 15 to 20 minute walk from the gates. Once I got to the gates there was a huge line line. Rams fans were making comments how it felt like standing in line for Space Mountain at Disneyland. Total time standing in line was 45 minutes. When I went to the Cowboys camps on July 30th, and August 3rd I was easily in the camp within 10 minutes. To be fair, I have the United membership, so experience might be different for non-members.

I get through the ticket check in finally, and get to the metal detectors. I have an old zippo lighter that is my lucky lighter I put on the tray before going through the metal detector. Security looks at it, and tells me I have to throw it away if I want to go inside. I am dumbfounded. No way in hell I am throwing my zippo I've had for years. If it was a bic, I wouldn't have cared, but not my zippo. Cowboys camp they didn't have a problem with it. Rams camp. Rams rules. They tell me to go take it back to my car, but give me a stamp so I don't have to wait in line again.

I finally walk into Ram world, and it is grossly over crowded. Last Saturday I thought there were a lot of people at Cowboys camp for the festivities. Rams camp was easily 2 to 3 times the size of that crowd. They just kept packing them in like sardines. By the way, once you are in past the games, you have about another 10 minute walk with the crowd to get to the field. I got to see Stafford do a few plays through much obstructed views before they pulled him. It was about 40 minutes before I found a spot where I had a great unobstructed view. People were already leaving, because it looked like they already had enough with the over crowding. I stayed in that spot about 40 minutes before I had enough. It was hot, not much fun, and this isn't my team anyhow.

So we have 2 to 3 times the crowd of the Cowboys camp of last Saturday, long walk, long line to get in, can it get any worse? Yes. There are also fewer restroom facilities for more than twice the amount of people. No lines for Cowboys port-o-potties. Very long lines if you have to use the restrooms at Rams camp, and not much for washing stations. I thought lines for concessions and the shop at Cowboys camp were silly. The Rams say "hold my beer" when it comes to that.

I actually feel bad for Rams fans after seeing their training camp experience vs. what Jerry gives us. Say what you want about Jones, he does an A-1 job with his training camp. I'm supposed to go to Chargers training camp on Wednesday, but now think I will just attend Cowboys final practice day in Oxnard on Tuesday. I live in central L.A., and Chargers camp starts at 9:00 AM. I don't feel like waking up with the birds to fight through L.A. and Orange County rush hour traffic on a trip to Costa Mesa. I'll do it next season, and do it right by staying somewhere in Costa Mesa the night before.

If I see Jerry on Tuesday I'm going to thank him for choosing Oxnard, and running things the way they do at camp. Just no more mock practices please.
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They just won the superbowl and they play in cali of course it will be more crowded.
 
Diehardblues

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Hennessy_King said:
They just won the superbowl and they play in cali of course it will be more crowded.
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Yea, I bet a couple years ago there would have been no problem in LA.

Cowboys generally have the largest attendance for TC and treat as an entertainment venue. I assume it’s still free for attendance as well. It was here in Texas.
 
speedkilz88

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Hennessy_King said:
They just won the superbowl and they play in cali of course it will be more crowded.
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Charlotte was on 105.3 and said the fire marshal told them when they were at full capacity and couldn't let anymore in. Sounds like the fire marshall where the rams were looked the other way.
 
Hennessy_King

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speedkilz88 said:
Charlotte was on 105.3 and said the fire marshal told them when they were at full capacity and couldn't let anymore in. Sounds like the fire marshall where the rams were looked the other way.
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The venues arent in the same town. So fire marshalls would be different. Idk y anyone cares what charlotte has to say
 
Crazed Liotta Eyes

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xwalker said:
Except they won Super Bowls when they practiced at St. Edwards.

I was there in 92 & 93. It was awesome, especially in 92 because it was like attending a middle school practice.

Just a 4' tall chain link about the fields and a very small crowd.

We had great views...I predicted greatness for Erik Williams after seeing him in practice
- A few weeks later he won NFC Offensive Player of the week for kicking Reggie White's arse.

Players would just come up to the fence and talk to fans without being prompted.
- Kenny Gant talked to my girlfriend for literally 10 minutes.
- When we were crossing the on-campus street, Jerry & Jimmy roll up in a golf cart with Jimmy driving.
- Jerry starts talking to us and tells Jimmy to 'wait' at couple of times.

Disclaimer: We probably got extra attention from Jerry and players because I had really hot girlfriends.
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I went to quite a few of those back when they were at St. Edwards. I was standing at that chain link fence you mentioned when Irvin dropped an easy pass on the sideline. He ran right up to me dropping F bombs and smacked the fence so hard that it almost hit me in the face.
 

SinceDayOne

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The Cowboy fans have the better experience when they visit the training camp of their team. BUT the Rams fans have a trophy and a Super Bowl banner to hang from being the defending champs. I doubt the Rams fans are interested in a trade.
 

CowboysFaninHouston

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Oz-of-Cowboy-Country said:
So a guy can't talk about having a pleasant experience without y'all pissing all over it. Wow!
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no on is p!ssing on it....its the OP p!ssing on the rams after they won the superbowl!!!! and then their practices are crowded....wow

if and that's a big IF we win the superbowl, what do you think happens in cowboys camp? same crowd?
 
MarcusRock

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So we win the training camp Super Bowl while the Rams polish their rings for the real thing? Okay.
 
john van brocklin

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muck4doo said:
Took a trip to UC Irvine to attend the Rams camp today, and will never go to a Rams camp again. Practice for the Rams starts at 12:30 local time and runs until 3:00 during what is the hottest part of the day in California, vs. Cowboys practices starting at 10 or 11 in the cooler Oxnard climate. That's just the start of it though.

Both times I've been to camp in Oxnard so far, I've been able to find free street parking about a 10 minute walk from the gates. UC Irvine you are not going to find any such thing, and pay $18 for a 15 to 20 minute walk from the gates. Once I got to the gates there was a huge line line. Rams fans were making comments how it felt like standing in line for Space Mountain at Disneyland. Total time standing in line was 45 minutes. When I went to the Cowboys camps on July 30th, and August 3rd I was easily in the camp within 10 minutes. To be fair, I have the United membership, so experience might be different for non-members.

I get through the ticket check in finally, and get to the metal detectors. I have an old zippo lighter that is my lucky lighter I put on the tray before going through the metal detector. Security looks at it, and tells me I have to throw it away if I want to go inside. I am dumbfounded. No way in hell I am throwing my zippo I've had for years. If it was a bic, I wouldn't have cared, but not my zippo. Cowboys camp they didn't have a problem with it. Rams camp. Rams rules. They tell me to go take it back to my car, but give me a stamp so I don't have to wait in line again.

I finally walk into Ram world, and it is grossly over crowded. Last Saturday I thought there were a lot of people at Cowboys camp for the festivities. Rams camp was easily 2 to 3 times the size of that crowd. They just kept packing them in like sardines. By the way, once you are in past the games, you have about another 10 minute walk with the crowd to get to the field. I got to see Stafford do a few plays through much obstructed views before they pulled him. It was about 40 minutes before I found a spot where I had a great unobstructed view. People were already leaving, because it looked like they already had enough with the over crowding. I stayed in that spot about 40 minutes before I had enough. It was hot, not much fun, and this isn't my team anyhow.

So we have 2 to 3 times the crowd of the Cowboys camp of last Saturday, long walk, long line to get in, can it get any worse? Yes. There are also fewer restroom facilities for more than twice the amount of people. No lines for Cowboys port-o-potties. Very long lines if you have to use the restrooms at Rams camp, and not much for washing stations. I thought lines for concessions and the shop at Cowboys camp were silly. The Rams say "hold my beer" when it comes to that.

I actually feel bad for Rams fans after seeing their training camp experience vs. what Jerry gives us. Say what you want about Jones, he does an A-1 job with his training camp. I'm supposed to go to Chargers training camp on Wednesday, but now think I will just attend Cowboys final practice day in Oxnard on Tuesday. I live in central L.A., and Chargers camp starts at 9:00 AM. I don't feel like waking up with the birds to fight through L.A. and Orange County rush hour traffic on a trip to Costa Mesa. I'll do it next season, and do it right by staying somewhere in Costa Mesa the night before.

If I see Jerry on Tuesday I'm going to thank him for choosing Oxnard, and running things the way they do at camp. Just no more mock practices please.
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Jerry knows marketing!
If would just focus on that and hire a GM for the Football we would all be better off.
 
rnr_honeybadger

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Well Jerry has had 27 years of experience running fun camps. That's all he is good at, running fun camps and commandeering the party bus.
 
muck4doo

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CowboysFaninHouston said:
no on is p!ssing on it....its the OP p!ssing on the rams after they won the superbowl!!!! and then their practices are crowded....wow

if and that's a big IF we win the superbowl, what do you think happens in cowboys camp? same crowd?
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Hey, congrats to the Rams on their championship. I wanted to go see their camp because they are the reigning champs, and a great run team. That doesn't mean they are beyond criticism though, and their camp needs a lot of improvement to give a nice fan experience. It wasn't just the overcrowding, the whole entire experience with the long lines, lack of bathrooms, concessions and everything else needs improvement, and the fans there were voicing as much. By the way, you didn't see me post anything negative about the fans there. They were extremely friendly, and I think they deserve a better camp experience next season when they take their families there. I'm not pissing on Rams fans or the Rams team themselves, but saying the people who run their camp have learning to do to make the fan experience better. Jerry sure as hell deserves most the criticism he gets, but he does run a fan friendly cam. Why is this so controversial to you?
 
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